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The Mesa Holiday Inn Express is slated to be demolished and reconstructed as a full-service Holiday Inn. After all is said and done, the property, built in the mid 60’s will become a modern five-story, 115-room hotel with interior corridors, a full-service restaurant and other modern amenities.”The new Holiday Inn will be the first full-service hotel built from scratch in
Mesa in more than 20 years,” said Robert Brinton, executive director of the Mesa Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The property will fill a void, as the only full-service property in an area dominated by limited-service hotels between the Arizona Golf Resort and the Marriott in downtown Mesa. The additional room availablity next to the adjacent conference center is expected to be a boon for small meetings and conferences for businesses, associations, religious groups and social organizations, especially with it’s location on Main Street with easy access to shopping and restaurants.
By Sue Tinnish
SEAL Inc.
847.394.9857
stinnish@ameritech.net
Traditionally, medical and technical conferences have offered poster sessions. Poster sessions allow colleagues to share their expertise with large groups at conferences. You can harness the positive power of posters to create innovative meeting formats.
In a traditional conference, participants are invited to create a poster depicting their research. Poster creators share that information with others during an informal period when people walk around viewing the posters. Poster creators may also be required to give short presentations on their research every ten or fifteen minutes. Poster sessions combine text and graphics to make a visually-pleasing presentation.
Beyond medical and research conferences, poster sessions offer 14 benefits for all types of meeting and events
:1. Participants get to pick and choose - People can wander about and stop at topics that are of interest to them. It’s self-directed learning at its best.
2. Participants can vote with their feet - People can stop and look a poster for as little time or as much time as they like. They can engage in conversation with the creator of the poster. It’s easy to move on during a poster session without insulting the speaker.
3. The right pace - Many presentations do not provide the audience with enough time to assimilate the statistical data or link it with other information. A poster can allow for a clearer and more reflective process of presentation, especially of statistical or visual information. In addition, the narrative of every poster, including main points and conclusions, can be highlighted and therefore absorbed at every person’s own pace as they view the poster.
4. My question - A presentation rarely affords enough time to adequately field all questions. Audience participation is sometimes limited to question and answer periods. Usually only a few people are able to ask questions, and the presenter may not cover the concerns of the entire audience. A poster session allows for dialogue and engaging interaction.
5. Snippets may be the best - Speakers can drone on for interminable amounts of time. What if speakers were forced to encapsulate their comments into 10 minutes? That’s in essence what poster sessions do – they force the presenter to get their main points out quickly and clearly.
6. A different way to learn - Poster sessions promote information through visual medium not just words. Ideally poster sessions are graphically interesting and display information visually. The creator may be present to supplement the poster with conversation by answering questions from the participants.
7. Customized learning – Poster sessions give people to the opportunity customize their agenda in a way that is most value to them.
8. Forget the common denominator - A common problem in presentations is that speakers must provide sufficient background so the entire audience will understand the presentation. Poster sessions allow the creator to meet the participant at their level of knowledge. And as a result, they each have the opportunity to discuss the full scope of the research or results and implications.
9. Leading-edge issues covered - What if your agenda and speakers are determined months in advance? That’s good from a planning perspective but you lose something in being able to cover the newest information. Poster sessions offer you the flexibility to program to current issues.
10. Variety at a quick pace - Often when I am planning meetings, it seems that there is so much I would love to cover but time on the agenda just doesn’t allow. Poster sessions create the opportunity to include a wide breadth of topics without overwhelming the audience with information overload.
11. Responsive to the group - Poster sessions afford you the opportunity to be responsive to individual needs, interests and topics.
12. Highlight the expertise of your group Poster sessions give lots of people the opportunity to highlight their expertise and knowledge. Imagine the great new connections that can be created when people discover each other during a poster session.
13. Poster sessions are a consideration to foreign colleagues - The poster session allows foreign colleagues another format to present. If Asian, European, African or Latin American colleagues are less comfortable with a formal presentation in English, poster sessions offer them an alternative. Likewise, for Americans participating in an international conference.
14. Feedback loop - Posters can provide the creator with much more feedback than she or he would receive during a traditional presentation.
With these benefits in mind, you can explore a more expansive use of poster sessions:
• Posters as a source for additional resources – Supplement an existing presentation with posters. This offers people something to look at, adds color to the walls and gives people the opportunity to explore a topic in more detail if they are interested.
• Posters as a review technique – During training session, rather than lead participants through the review and repeat information that already covered, create posters that review the relevant material. Invite participants to spend as much or as little time as they want at each visual display. This technique doesn’t force anyone to review material that they felt they knew cold. It also allowed people to reflect and remember what they learned. Often our meeting agendas are so crammed with information, there is little time for the participants to stop and think about what they learned.
• Posters at a trade show – Rather than a traditional trade show, invited venders to prepare poster displaying their expertise in a specific area. Rather than beginning conversations about whether there is interest in doing business together, the participants will have the opportunity to learn something of value from the vendors. From that relationship, both parties can explore other avenues.
• Best Practices Showcase - Learn from peers by using a poster session to showcase best practices, great ideas, or other examples that can benefit the entire group. This type of session can be motivating to the creators of the poster and create some great suggestions for everyone.
• Virtual Poster Sessions - The fastest growing variation of the poster session is the Internet session. Creators prepare posters about their work and post them on the Web. Instead of walking around viewing others’ posters at a conference, participants of the virtual poster session view others’ posters online. Electronic forums then allow participants to ask questions of the poster authors.
Be positive on posters! Everyone benefits from poster sessions - the participants, the planners and the creators of posters. Add a bit of innovation to a meeting through poster sessions.
A conference call lets you remain at your desk rather than trek off down the hall–or across the country–to a meeting. It also provides a great opportunity to get the opinions and concerns of the entire team heard as long as it doesn’t disintegrate into a wasteland of wandering discourse. Investing some time and effort up front will ensure that the call works for everyone.
1. Volunteer to set up the call so you can assume the role of moderator. Confirm that everyone has both the dial-in and conference code numbers, as well as the correct time for their zone.
2. Poll the other participants in advance as to the items they want covered in the call. Develop a written agenda with a specific time allotment for each agenda item. Better yet, e-mail the agenda to all parties before the call.
3. Take charge of gathering and disseminating the printed background material, numbering pages clearly and prominently. Nothing creates conference-call chaos faster than a chorus of “Where are we?” or “I don’t seem to have that chart.”
4. Refuse to discuss major agenda items until everyone is on the line. Bringing latecomers up to speed on important issues wastes time and irritates those who were prompt.
5. Monitor the clock closely. Be prepared to intervene with “Excuse me, we have to move on–we’ve run out of time for this topic” or “Let’s discuss this topic at another time and report back to the group.” Stay polite but firm throughout.
6. End the call with a synopsis of conclusions reached and future actions required. Send out a written summary of these conclusions and action items to all participants promptly.
Overall Tips:Use a handheld phone on a land line rather than a cellular phone or speakerphone. Your voice will be clearer, with minimal background noise. Use an office where you can close the door to further reduce noise. If more than two other people are participating in the call, keep a written list of names beside your phone so you can be sure you are getting everyone’s input.
Tips from eHow Users: Focus by eHow Friend
Do not do anything else but participate on the conference call. Answering e-mails, reading papers, etc., are counter-productive to the purpose of the call. And since many people forget to mute their phones, the noises you make will distract from the meeting.
Business meetings may be conducted formally or informally, depending on the company and the circumstances. The following guidelines are based on Robert’s Rules of Order.
Taking Minutes
Steps:
1. Obtain the meeting agenda, minutes from the last meeting, and any background documents to be discussed. Consider using a tape recorder to ensure accuracy.
2. Sit beside the chairperson for convenient clarification or help as the meeting proceeds.
3. Write “Minutes of the meeting of (exact association name).”
4. Record the date, time and place of the meeting.
5. Circulate a sheet of paper for attendees to sign. (This sheet can also help identify speakers by seating arrangement later in the meeting.) If the meeting is an open one, write down only the names of the attendees who have voting rights.
6. Note who arrives late or leaves early so that these people can be briefed on what they missed.
7. Write down items in the order in which they are discussed. If item 8 on the agenda is discussed before item 2, keep the old item number but write item 8 in second place.
8. Record the motions made and the names of people who originate them.
9. Record whether motions are adopted or rejected, how the vote is taken (by show of hands, voice or other method) and whether the vote is unanimous. For small meetings, write the names of the attendees who approve, oppose and abstain from each motion.
10. Focus on recording actions taken by the group. Avoid writing down the details of each discussion.
Tips:You do not need to record topics irrelevant to the business at hand. Taking minutes is not the same as taking dictation.Consult only the chairperson or executive officer, not the attendees, if you have questions. The person taking minutes does not participate in the meeting.
Transcribing Minutes
Steps:
1. Transcribe minutes soon after the meeting, when your memory of the event is still fresh.
2. Follow the format used in previous minutes.
3. Preface resolutions with “RESOLVED, THAT…”
4. Consider attaching long resolutions, reports or other supplementary material to the minutes as an appendix.
5. Write “Submitted by” and then sign your name and the date. 6. Place minutes chronologically in a record book.
Tips: Write in a concise, accurate manner, taking care not to include any sort of subjective opinion. No matter what type of minutes you take, focus on capturing and communicating all important actions that took place.
Tips from eHow Users:Handout notes by eHow Friend
I find it very helpful to make notes on the back of my set of handouts.That way, what was discussed about the items on that particular handout is on the back of the actual sheet.
Follow up by eHow Friend
Make sure action items are clearly marked on the notes.When they are disbursed they can serve as reminders for those in attendance.
